Functionalism may refer to: *

Functionalism (aesthetics) Utilitarian design is an art concept that argues for the products to be designed based on the utility (as opposed to the "contemplated pleasure" of beauty). For example, an object intended for a narrow and practical purpose does not need to be aest ...

, a doctrine declaring that only objects based on utility and economy can be beautiful **

Functionalism (architecture) In architecture, functionalism is the principle that buildings should be designed based solely on their purpose and function. An international functionalist architecture movement emerged in the wake of World War I, as part of the wave of Modernis ...

, the principle that architects should design a building based on the purpose of that building *

Functionalism in international relations Functionalism is a theory of international relations that arose during the interwar period principally from the strong concern about the obsolescence of the state as a form of social organization. Rather than the self-interest of nation states ...

, a theory that arose during the inter-War period *

Functional linguistics Functional linguistics is an approach to the study of language characterized by taking systematically into account the speaker's and the hearer's side, and the communicative needs of the speaker and of the given language community. Linguistic fu ...

, a theoretical approach to the study of language *

Functionalism (philosophy of mind) In the philosophy of mind, functionalism is the thesis that each and every mental state (for example, the state of having a belief, of having a desire, or of being in pain) is constituted solely by its functional role, which means its causal relat ...

, a theory of the mind in contemporary philosophy * Functionalism versus intentionalism, a historiographical debate about the origins of the Holocaust *

Structural functionalism Structural functionalism, or simply functionalism, is "a framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability". This approach looks at society through a macro-level o ...

, a theoretical tradition within sociology and anthropology * Biological functionalism, an anthropological paradigm * Functionalism (sociology of science), a concept due to Robert K. Merton

See also